İstanbul is also a leader in e-commerce in terms of the total volume of business. Thirty-six percent of the online shopping that reached a total of TRY136 billion in 2019 was realized in İstanbul. This rate indicates that the consumers in İstanbul spent TRY48 billion and 960 million.

Turkey has been implementing a brand new system for collecting and centralizing e-commerce data and identifying primary policies on the sector through a shared database. Data are collected through the Electronic Commerce Information System (ETBIS) and Electronic Commerce Information Platform. ETBIS data are to be utilized as the primary source in all analyses on the sector in the upcoming period.

DOMESTIC EXPENDITURE 85%

As reported by the official data on e-commerce revealed by the Ministry of Trade this year for the first time, Turkey's e-commerce volume reached TRY136 billion in 2019. 85% of the total amount of e-commerce of 2019 is formed from the domestic expenditure, 9% originates from the transactions of other countries over the e-commerce websites of Turkey, and the remaining 6% originated from Turkish citizens' transactions via the international sites. TRY97.5 billion of the e-commerce volume (71.5%) was realized with credit card payments, TRY8.9 billion (6.5%) through the 'cash on delivery' method, and the remaining TRY29.5 billion money orders/EFT payments.

AIRLINE SECTOR RANKED FIRST

According to the sectoral distribution on the e-commerce expenditure, the airline sector ranked first with TRY15.3 billion and was followed by clothing, shoes, and accessories sector with TRY13.8 billion. White appliances and small household appliances industries ranked third with TRY13.3 billion, online holiday, and travel with TRY9.3 billion, and electronics ranked fourth with TRY8.5 billion. The catering industry followed the electronics with a transaction volume of TRY5 billion.

DISTRIBUTION OF CREDIT CARD TRANSACTIONS

Excluding the airline and online holiday and travel sectors, the e-commerce volume reaches to TRY111.4 billion. About the credit card transactions in e-commerce, based on the number of placed orders, the software sector ranked first with 75%. The horticulture industry has a 62, airlines 60, books and magazines 51, white appliances and small household appliances 50, electronics 43, holiday and travel 41, commercial car rental 29, and clothing has a percentage of 14.

46% IN ISTANBUL

Considering the distribution of the e-commerce businesses in cities, 68 thousand and 457 e-commerce businesses are presently active in Turkey. With 31 thousand and 647 e-commerce businesses and 46 percent, Istanbul remains at the top of the list. Ankara follows Istanbul with 9% (6328 enterprises), Izmir with 7% (4725 businesses), and Bursa with 4% (2731 companies).

COMMERCIAL BUSINESSES AND INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES 84%

The volume of commercial businesses and industrial enterprises within the official data on e-commerce is remarkable. Eighty-four percent of the registered e-commerce transactions have been formed by companies run by merchants and industrialists, while tradespeople have formed 16 percent. Thirty-six percent of the sales via e-commerce has been conducted by the consumers living in Istanbul, 9 percent belongs to the inhabitants of Ankara, and consumers of Izmir executed 6 percent of such transactions. As mentioned earlier, in parallel to the percentage, consumers in Istanbul spent TRY48 billion and 960 million in e-commerce in 2019.

RATE OF INSTALLMENT PAYMENTS 24%

76% of expenses on e-commerce are immediate payment, whereas the remaining 24% of these transactions are conducted with installment payments. The highest rate of e-commerce sales occurred in November, and the sales and campaigns of the e-commerce websites are believed to have a role in this rate. On the other hand, the lowest e-commerce expenses occurred during Ramadan and the wake of Sacrifice Holiday. E-commerce relatively increased in the first days of the week while it decreased in the last days of the week.

1 BILLION AND 366 MILLION ORDERS PLACED

In 2019, a total of 1 billion and 366 million orders had been placed as part of e-commerce. When the distribution of the payment methods are examined, 532 million orders have been placed with credit card payments, 176 million orders have been put in with the 'cash on delivery' way, and 657 million orders have been paid through money order/EFT. In concern with the TRY136-billion amount in terms of e-commerce volume, the average basket total price has been TRY99.5. This amount has reached TRY183 in credit card payments, and TRY50 in cash on delivery. Specific to the sectors, the average basket total reached TRY874 in the airline sector, TRY160 in clothing, TRY174 in holiday and travel, TRY126 in electronics, TRY34 in the catering industry, TRY64 in books and magazine, TRY82 in the horticulture industry.

E-COMMERCE GREW BY 48% DURING THE PANDEMIC

For the unregistered data on the first five months of 2020, with an increase of 48% compared to the same term previous year, the volume of e-commerce has been TRY63.3 billion during the Covid-19 pandemic. The sectors that grew the most in the first five months in credit card payments have been white appliances and household appliances with 75 percent, clothing, shoes, and accessories with 43 percent, electronics with 53 percent, software with 95 percent, and food and supermarket with 400 percent. Considering the total expenditure actualized during March-April-May, the months dominated by the Covid-19 process; the food and supermarket expenses through e-commerce grew sixfold compared to last year. Spending in chemicals increased two and a half fold, expenses on white appliances doubled, and childcare expenses doubled as well.